


Incipient

by AlannaofRoses



Series: 12 Days of Batfam Stocking Fics [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Crying, Flying, Gen, Not Anti-Bruce, UNCLE CLARK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21700027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlannaofRoses/pseuds/AlannaofRoses
Summary: After yet another fight with Bruce, Dick seeks out his Uncle Clark for reassurance and comfort.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Clark Kent
Series: 12 Days of Batfam Stocking Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563496
Comments: 2
Kudos: 148
Collections: Batfam Christmas Stocking 2019





	Incipient

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cursed_angelica](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cursed_angelica/gifts).



> This series is all the fics I completed for the 2019 Batfam Christmas Stocking exchange. All are unconnected one shots based on prompts given by the recipient. They are in no particular order, they were uploaded as I finished them. Enjoy!
> 
> The prompt was Dick and his Uncle Clark. I'd actually had this idea floating around for a while, and it was really fun to write.

Clark heard Dick’s heartbeat long before the boy made it to his door. Even if he hadn’t, Bruce had sent him a message that had given him the bare essential facts. ‘Fight with Dick. He’s headed to you.’

He still waited until the boy knocked, his fluttering heartbeat hovering at the door for a long moment before Dick steeled himself to the task. 

Clark opened the door. “Hey kiddo.”

Dick looked awful. 

His eyes were red-rimmed, his face a pasty grey of weariness and stress. There was a bag slung over his shoulder. 

Clark felt his heart clench in sympathy. He knew Dick and Bruce had been fighting more and more lately, clashing over the younger vigilante’s growing independence. He stepped forward, pulling the kid into a hug.

Dick melted against him, tangling his fingers in Clark’s shirt and holding on tight. Clark rubbed gentle circles into his back, rocking slightly like he’d seen Bruce do occasionally to calm the boy.

“What’s up, Little Bird?” Clark murmured.

Dick’s breath hitched. “He fired me.”

Clark stopped, pushing back to look into Dick’s face. “What?”

Dick sniffed, scrubbing a hand over his eyes, fighting his quivering lip valiantly. “He took Robin away and told me to get out.”

Clark had the boy in his arms before he really realized what he was doing. He dropped Dick’s bag in the entryway and let the door click shut behind them as he used the window to escape.

Within moments, they were high above Metropolis, the fading afternoon sunlight glinting off Dick’s dark hair. The boy clung to him, the joy of flying overshadowed by his persistent anguish.

Clark levelled out among the clouds, floating easily on his back, Dick curled up against his chest. 

“Tell me what happened.” Clark requested. 

So Dick did, stumbling over his words, his voice trembling as he described the hurtful words said on both sides, barbs aimed at the softest parts of each other. It was a fight only two people who knew each other as well as Dick and Bruce could have had.

“…and then, he said,” Dick sobbed. “he said to get out. That I was fired, and I wasn’t to come back. Clark,” he wailed, “where do I go?” 

Dick dissolved into sobs, Clark foregoing an answer at the moment to simply hold the boy through the storm. He drifted lightly on the wind currents, hoping the familiar motion would help soothe Dick.

He waited until Dick had cried himself out, his cries reduced to sniffles as they flew. 

“First of all, Little Bird, you can stay with me as long as you need to.” Clark began. “Although I don’t think Bruce truly meant it when he said you weren’t to come back.”

“It sounded like he did.” Dick whimpered.

Clark ran a hand through the boy’s hair. “Second, and Bruce will remember this soon if he hasn’t already, he can’t really fire you from being a vigilante.” Clark smiled sadly, because how often had he wished that Bruce himself would give up the cape and cowl? These people he loved were so distressingly fragile. “It’s in your blood, Dick. He couldn’t stop you if he tried. He’s just afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Yes. Afraid of you getting hurt. Afraid he can’t protect you. Afraid that he did the wrong thing in making you Robin.”

Dick raised his head to scowl at Bruce. “He didn’t make me Robin! I made me Robin. I would have done it even if Bruce hadn’t let me work with him.”

“I know.” Clark reassured him. “And so does Bruce, most of the time. But it’s a frightening thing, being responsible for another hero’s training.”

“Is that why you haven’t been working with Connor much?” Dick asked, all false innocence.

Clark flicked the boy lightly on the nose. “Hey! We aren’t talking about my problems here!”

Dick stuck out his tongue. 

Clark narrowed his eyes at the boy, but he was glad that the terrible anguish had seemed to lift from Dick’s shoulders. “Ready to go back in?” He asked.

“Hmm…” Dick pretended to think, leaning over Clark’s side to peer at the ground far below. “Can we do loops first?”

He shrieked in pleased surprise as Clark immediately swooped into a fast set of spin and whirls. They flew for several minutes, Clark doing his best impression of a rollercoaster and Dick crowing his excitement to the wide open sky.

Finally, Clark aimed them back at Metropolis, Dick laughing in his arms. The boy’s hair was adorably windswept and cheeks a rosy pink.

Clark, taken by sudden impulse, pressed a kiss to Dick’s forehead. “Come on, Little Bird. I have hot chocolate and a story just waiting at my place.”

“Can it be a story from Krypton?” Dick asked eagerly.

Clark thought for a moment. “Have I told you the one about the hero Nightwing? I think you’ll really enjoy it.”


End file.
